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Wildcats get their act together

Woomer's three goals leads Fruita to thumping of Telluride

The Fruita Monument boys lacrosse team started to get its act together on offense Friday, then went to a whole new level Saturday.

The Wildcats followed Friday’s 7-1 win over Telluride with a 10-2 win Saturday over Durango, and Fruita coach Mark Young was effusive in his praise after the complete game his team played against the Demons.

“I’m a lot happier today,” he said. “I’m tickled.

“We finally got together and played as team. And that to me is the biggest story I could ask for. Our offense was fantastic. We settled the ball down, and nobody got excited. We set up the plays and finally played Fruita ball. It was magical. It was a beautiful sight from the very first face-off.”

Young added the Wildcats’ defense was outstanding, and that’s been the case every game. Getting the offense going has been the trick to getting in the win column, and after an 0-2 start, Fruita evened its record at 2-2.

One of the things that helped Saturday was the return of Aiden Woomer, playing his first game of the season after being sidelined by an injury suffered late in the wrestling season.

Woomer scored a team-high three goals and Zac Twardowski scored two goals and had two assists. Five other players scored, and that was another reason for Young’s postgame enthusiasm.

“Everyone’s scoring, realizing we don’t have to rely on one person,” he said.

Goalkeeper Katie Dunn turned away 11 shots on goal, including several in spectacular fashion, as Palisade edged Steamboat Springs 1-0 in a 4A Western Slope League game.

“Our defense played solid, but honestly Katie Dunn had four saves that they really should have scored on, but she kept us in the game,” Palisade coach Raina Sorensen said. “Two of them were diving saves, and one them she stopped a breakaway.”

Cruz Maestas scored the lone goal in the 56th minute with an assist from Nicole Harkreader. Sorensen said a crossing pass bounced around amidst a group of players until Harkreader sent a short pass toward Maestas just inside the 18-yard box on the right side. Maestas then sent her shot into the upper-left corner of the net.

The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 in the league and overall and the Sailors dropped to 1-1.

The Palisade boys team and the Delta girls team claimed championships at the 13-team Delta Panther Invitational.

The Palisade boys totaled 140 points, 17 more than runner-up Cedaredge, as the Bulldogs got wins from Justin Ray in the 800-meter run and the Bulldogs’ 400 relay.

Cedaredge, meanwhile, piled up the event victories as Dante Markley won the 100, 200 and 110 hurdles, Reid Gates won the high jump and long jump, and Austin Williams won the shot put.

The Delta girls scored 137.5 points. Cedaredge followed with 121.

Delta’s event winners were Mykayla Music in the 1,600 and 3,200, Skylyn Webb in the 100, Callie Gafford in the high jump, Bryanna Music in the shot put, and the Panthers’ 400 relay and 800 sprint relay.

Cedaredge got wins from Rebecca Deal in the long jump and Kaitlyn Kissner in the discus.

Baseball

Montrose pounded out 38 hits to win a pair of nonleague baseball games: 13-0 over Weld Central and 22-3 over Eagle Valley. Tyrus Lopez went 4 for 4 in each contest and was the winning pitcher against Eagle Valley. Cam LeBlanc was the winning pitcher against Weld Central.

Rugby

Chris Gershon scored three tries as the Grand Junction Griffins club rugby team defeated the Northside Vikings 55-22.

Rylan Perez scored two tries for the Griffins, and Casey Moreland, Parker Moreland, Wes-Lee Wilden and Connor Travis each scored one try. Wilden added four conversions for Grand Junction, which improved to 2-0.